I’ve been tracking my drinks for 2 years, first time I reach such a sober streak - and I feel really better!
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I don’t get it. Why not “days since” or something like that?
Absolute legend. Going to show this to someone in my life who has been struggling to quit.
That’s pretty incredible. But now that someone’s accomplished this feat, I wonder if anyone could do the opposite - blackout drunk every single day for 9 months straight. If you die from doing it, you lose. If you go any calendar day without completely blacking out from being drunk, you also lose. But if you win, it’ll be life changing in ways none of us could even begin to comprehend. I’m not going to say whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing, but it is something. Anyone want to try it?
I feel blessed not having a drinking problem. My father couldn’t manage his. He died of liver failure.
Stay strong. It’s always worth it. Even in moments of doubt and pain.
Very well done!
You’re killing it, and not yourself!
i don’t think that’s mildly interesting at all.
that’s badass. way to go, dude.
This is not mildly interesting. This is a pretty big deal.
c/interestingasfuck
Congratulations!
Downvoted because it’s too interesting
Ironic
Been struggling myself to start getting sober what template are you using?
I’ll offer insights into two I have experience with. First there’s AA. They’re faith based but leave it to the individual to define their higher power however they wish. But the point is that people don’t believe they have it in themselves to quit drinking so they must submit to something they consider outside themselves in order to stop. AA is also where you get the “12 steps”, which are what you have to go through in order to have the best chance of maintaining your sobriety. The steps are all faith based, such as giving yourself over to god in order to overcome your addiction. In meetings, you have to label yourself as an alcoholic when you start to talk, such as "I’m Luna, I’m an alcoholic. This program also labels you an addict for life and insists on total abstinence from your drug of choice
The other is Smart recovery. They are not faith based and rely on reason and psychology to change behavior. They offer workbooks with the goal of helping you understand the patterns and mindsets that led to your addiction and how to modify those behaviors. They have a 4 point program based on CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy) and is meant to be a temporary support rather than a lifelong commitment.
What I’ve experienced in meetings: In AA everyone seems constantly fearful and anxious just below the surface, and angry. They really push you to share your stories of recovery and it’s somewhat cultish. If someone shares something particularly devastating and obviously needs help they might offer a phone number or say just continue to come to the meetings but they won’t offer any support in the meeting because they don’t allow cross talk. In a recent meeting a woman was asking someone to change her mind because she was saying the program wasn’t doing anything for her but instead of helping her people were asking to have her thrown out of the meeting and one even gave her the finger on camera. It was very disappointing to see.
In Smart meetings cross talk is allowed. There’s also the impression the IQ in the room is significantly higher than in AA meetings. They would have been happy to have a discussion with the woman asking someone to change her mind. They also frame the situations you face in your addiction as choices, rather than an all powerful urge that’s unstoppable without god’s help. If you’re a junkie and you have to get that next shot, you have a choice not to do it even though the consequences might be almost unbearable.
Hope this helps.
Thanks for being honest. For yourself and for all those also struggling.
When I quit smoking tobacco, I waited as long as i could to have my first smoke of the day. Some days I made it very far, some days I lit up right when I woke up. Eventually I made it through a whole day.
It accelerated pretty fast after that cause once I got a few days under my belt, I felt positive reinforcement. Relapsing didnt crush my spirit, I could be so happy with how much time I “earned” last go around. Not bad that I failed to “quit”. This really flipped the script for me. I felt stronger as I kept trying rather then pulled apart and broken down.
If being hard on yourself worked, we would be perfect by now.
I’m currently quitting and I’ve gotten to the beginning of that point. It’s still hard, and today I’ve already started smoking, yesterday was a stressful day, but tomorrow I’ll try again. I’ve definitely noticed that it’s getting easier not to smoke.
Given the logo in the pic, I would assume drylendar? It seems an app for iPhone
Congrats!!!
Given how much everything around us tries to push us to drink, you can be proud!
Congrats!
Wild catch this post as I’m with ya, I just broke 24 hours. This is the worst part (3 days of anxiety, etc) , I really hope I can make it your numbers being sober.
You probably already know this but as a general PSA, don’t hesitate to seek out medical help if you’re having other symptoms or severe anxiety; alcohol withdrawal can be fatal without intervention
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/25052-delirium-tremens#symptoms-and-causes
I have been keeping tabs on my body temp and heart rate. They seem to be the first signs that you best get to the ER immediately.
Also there is a CIWA-Ar calculator. I hit pretty low when it comes to what I’m experiencing. I was tapering pretty good before I said enough is enough.
But I really appreciate your concern and taking the time to msg me about it. I did find a new concern on the page you sent, the B1 effects. God knows I have no desire to eat anything right now, but I may just have to force it.
Thanks again!
Soup, or ramen. Easy foods man. Stuff like miso soup since you can basically just drink it.
lol thats exactly I did, I had a bowl of soup not even 20 minutes ago! I got some really good ramen too in the pantry that will be next! Great advice, than you!
Also you get all the ice cream you want
Dude after I went from 10+ drinks every day to almost every day having zero, I was ASTOUNDED at how much I could eat while still losing weight. Turns out 1,000-2,000+ calories of drinks in a day translates to a LOT OF TREATS! I’ve plateaued now and never was a really huge person, but I just gorged and had treats all of the time every day after the initial hell week and lost 20% of my weight. I’m back to tiny and I still eat almost a half pint of ice cream daily heyo yeeee
Werd up
You can do it!
The hardest part is what you gave already just done, good luck!
Thank you and I’m gonna do my best, the 1st 3 days seem like the hardest. Day 1 down now just a couple more.
Then the after care, thats all new to me. But I’m sure thats easy to find out about.
Find some hobbies, books, etc., whatever you’re genuinely interested in. Don’t push yourself in these first few days; if all you want to do is sleep, then sleep. But in the coming weeks/months it will help tremendously to have something you can pour your whole being into, just completely immersed in. A book, a video game, hell even binging a tv series if it’s all you can motivate yourself to do. Arts, crafts, woodworking, soldering, language learning, whatever it is that gets your gears spinning.
If you ever feel yourself wanting to reach for a drink, ask yourself if you’re just bored. If the answer is yes, find something to do just to occupy your mind. It doesn’t matter if it’s something “lazy” or “unproductive.” If it gets you to bedtime without taking a drink, it was worthwhile.
If it’s not boredom, ask yourself if what it is. If you’re tired, sleep. Frustrated, depressed, stressed, lonely? If you can identify the cause of the craving, it gets easier to find something else to do instead of reaching for a drink.
Its nice to hear this from another that knows because thats what I’m doing. I got a call from my mom and just couldn’t deal with it because its sometimes like a interrogation with all the questions.
Keeping my YT/Rumble vids as non political as possible. Light interaction on Lemmy, absolutely no reddit. Fortunately (or unfortunately) not working so that stress isn’t over the top. My industry is a heart attack industry so I am ok with burning up some savings to get “right”.
Thank you for reaching out w/ some great advice. I will put it to work now :)
When I was first quitting I got really into listening to baseball on the radio and talking to other baseball fans about the games. Here lately I’ve been playing some solo journaling roleplaying games since just about anything on the internet wakes up the dread
I love listening to baseball and hockey vs watching it. You have to imagine the game, gets those electrons firing.
I definitely need the distraction tight now.
I had trouble stopping for a good while, then one day I realized it was Saturday morning and I was out for a walk on a chilly, sunny day and I felt good. It was like a switch flipped. In a flood I realized that I had trapped myself in a habit I didn’t even like any more. My health had already suffered a bit from it, and the upside of having a ton of friends and family at gatherings cracking open a few had faded, friends moved on as they do, family expanded and the growing complexity of it all made alcohol an anchor rather than a buoy, and it went from a catalyst for fun to a stress factor that only had downsides.
I realized those old days were gone. My cousin wasn’t going to hurl over the railing at my other cousin’s wedding reception while our uncles roasted and toasted him from an open trunk. I wasn’t loosening up in the hopes of talking to a cute girl at a party. I was sitting alone in my basement on a Saturday with a jug of questionable vintage, drinking because there was in that habit a faint recollection of good times past, and a compulsion that was just strong enough to keep me there, but weak enough to fly under the radar.
I love a fizzy club soda. I love a cup of mint tea. I love feeling the day as it happens, the drag of a bad time felt fully ricochets into the actual good feeling of an accomplishment, however small.
It’s not a tough choice any more, because I’ve seen it in the light of day… But it’s still there.
Also, to echo another poster, you CAN do it.
“an anchor not a buoy” what a great way of putting it! I will remember that phrase.
There are too many similarities in your back story that I have had. I can’t wait til I don’t have to cancel plans or go out to eat because I had 6 beers and counting. How may times I caught myself w/ the keys in my hand of because I was drinking so much I would forget and nearly get behind the wheel.
I cut off all my “bar friends” years ago. Too much to deal with when not wanting to drink and they are riding you “Come on just have one”
Health issues too, hopefully its not too late.
Also I have 2 restaurants owned by of close friends that I can go to. They saw how much I was drinking and banded me from ordering alcohol. I do get all my soft drinks for free, they really were worried when they said “no more”. And its not like they don’t a lounge full functioning drunks, they do. But for me they must liked me more than what I was spending a night at their bar. And it was a lot of money.
I’m sure there are a ton of grammatical error in my post, forgive my brain is in a state, but you know that :)
Thank you for taking the time to respond, I really appreciate it. And I have to do it, I don’t think I have it in me if back slide and have to do this again…
The first day is the hardest part. I have full faith in you and for your next 24 hours, I’ll pledge with you, IWNDWYT (I will not drink with you today). Don’t worry about next week or even two days from now. Lets do another 24 hours not drinking together.
Also, not to swamp you with books but the book Allen Carr’s Quit Drinking Without Willpower changed my entire mindset around alcohol and that made it much easier to get thru the cravings that happen in the first couple weeks.
I can do that pledge with you! I got some food and me and thats helped, still need to eat a bit more. My next 24 hours would be right around noon EST. I’ll keep the eye on the prize and not over think what its going to be like on day 3 or day 30.
I’ll look into that book. Last one I read was Russell Brands book “Recovery” its a good read. And someone sent a .pdf link on here for same recommended reading. The outpouring of support has been great, I really hope I don’t miss anyone and not respond.
Thank for the encouragement and the challenge :)
The sweats get better pretty quickly, and you’ll soon be amazed how much of your dreams you remember!
Looking forward to that time :)
Right now its a light headache, stomach inst happy and go back from hot to hold every other minute. Oh and can’t stop yawning, so its a ton better than 12 hours ago.
You can do it! Bite its fucking head off!
https://www.aa.org/sites/default/files/2024-10/b-7_livingsober_1-17_updated_10-2024.pdf
Not the AA Big Book, but a guide to tricks for not drinking.
I’ll give it a read, I have been of and on looking good info and how to deal with this. Thank you!
It’s easier to stay stopped when you hear other people’s stories and realize how much you have in common with them. Good luck!
Others have said that too, next step after I hit 3-4 days it will a meeting or two. I wish I had more options, its pretty much only AA here and I have been to some really ugly meetings.
Get the Everything AA app and the Meeting Guide app.
Everything AA is a yellow background with a blue triangle and circle. Meeting guide is a white chair on a blue background. Both are free to get in any app store.
Everything AA has all the literature and connects you to 24 hour Zoom meetings. I like big city meetings because you get a diverse crowd.
Meeting Guide will help you locate meetings near you.
And I’ve seen people walk into meetings with less than one day sober.
I’ll check out that app. And I get wanting big city meetings over what I have run into in rural area’s. The infighting was nauseating. Crosstalk, threats, epeen comparing, I walked of the last one midway thru.
I hit a couple meetings in LA and San Diego (before I got bad I went to support a friend) and meetings were 100x more civil. So I seen what your saying. And like you said way diverse, I got more out of it than you know.
Again thank you and everyone else on here for taking the time to help me.
Search ‘AA Intergroup [the name of the city]’ The website will list all the local meetings, live and online.
I go to a 6 am Zoom meeting that gets people from all over.
Also, the bigger places usually have a variety of meetings. Men only; women only; young people; LGBTQ+; etc.
Finally, don’t worry about the jargon. A lot of people like to talk about the Steps, The Program, The Big Book. It can be overwhelming, but it all comes down to one person sharing their own truth. Good luck
Great work! Congratulations!
Keep it up! I’m pulling for you!
Great job! It only gets easier. I would have called myself an alcoholic when younger. But after not a drop in 3 yrs now, and only once in a blue moon 3 yrs before that, I don’t even think about it any more. It gets old, boring and pointless at some point. For a lot of us anyways. Congrats on the sobriety! It’s worth it.
